In an opening address at the Diaspora Summit 2025, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has issued a clarion call for reparative justice, describing the quest for reparations as a “profound and urgent” necessity for the global African community.
Speaking at a symposium themed “Reclaiming the African Future: The Quest for Reparative Justice and Healing,” the Minister welcomed a high-level delegation of heads of state, traditional leaders, scholars, and civil rights advocates to Accra, which he termed the “headquarters of Pan-Africanism.”
Ablakwa characterized the gathering not merely as a formal event, but as a “reconnection of destinies.” He noted that the presence of participants from across the continent, the Caribbean, and the Americas represents a living answer to the prayers of ancestors who endured the horrors of the Middle Passage and the indignities of enslaved labor.
”We here today are the answers to those prayers,” the Minister stated, emphasizing that the global African family remains bound by a shared history of resilience despite four centuries of attempts to divide them.
The Minister highlighted Ghana’s strategic positioning of the Diaspora as its “17th Region,” a move that informs a foreign policy rooted in “unwavering and unadulterated solidarity.” He underscored Ghana’s role as a global leader in humanitarian efforts, noting that the nation currently ranks second in Africa for United Nations peacekeeping contributions.
Under the leadership of President John Ramani Mahama—the African Union’s Champion for Reparations—Minister Ablakwa revealed that Ghana has expanded its support to include Palestine, Sudan, Cuba, and Jamaica.
”Our foreign policy is never defined by how much we can take from others, but rather guided by how much love and support we can share,” the Minister remarked.
In a practical demonstration of this commitment, he confirmed that, under the President’s instruction, all diaspora participants who registered online for the summit were issued free visas by Ghanaian embassies worldwide.
Drawing a historical parallel to the 1945 Fifth Pan-African Congress in Manchester, convened by Ghana’s founder, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the Minister urged today’s leaders to emulate the boldness of the anti-colonial movement.
He stressed that 80 years after that seminal congress, the time has come to move beyond rhetoric toward coordinated action. He insisted that demanding justice for the “greatest sin against humanity” is the only way to restore the dignity of those who suffered.
Concluding his address, Ablakwa looked toward the future, asserting that while current generations represent the prayers of the past, the children of tomorrow will be the beneficiaries of today’s refusal to be defined by historical trauma.
”Africa’s rise is not only inevitable; it has already begun here in Accra,” he declared, calling for a unified global African community driven by a collective purpose.
Story by: Eugenia Ewoenam Osei
